Chester Man Pleads Guilty To Murdering Wife

A 51-year-old man accused of fatally stabbing his wife in February 2010, less than three months after she filed for divorce, pleaded guilty to murder at Superior Court in Middletown on Tuesday.

John Belanger, who had been barred from the couple's Chester home by a judge, also pleaded guilty to violating a protective order. He is to be is to be sentenced to 35 years in prison on March 22, according to the terms of a plea agreement.

State prosecutor Peter McShane said Belanger's wife, Bonnie J. MacKay Belanger, was on the phone with state police when Belanger broke down the door and entered the home on Feb. 25, 2010.